Dylan Sullivan '24 Appointed to National Center for Learning Disabilities Board of Directors

Landmark College alumni Dylan Sullivan '24 has been appointed to represent young adults on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), the leading disability rights organization focusing on learning differences. 

Sullivan, who completed a bachelor's degree in life sciences at Landmark College, currently works as a neurodiversity liaison and student success specialist at the University of Maine at Augusta. In this role, he both works one-on-one with students to better understand their learning profile, and conducts neuroinclusivity trainings and workshops with faculty and area employers and health care providers. 

For the past year, Sullivan has served on the Young Adult Leadership Council of NCLD, a role in which the organization "prepared us to do advocacy work in D.C.," Sullivan said, including meeting with Maine's United States Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, as well as with his Congressman, Jared Golden. 

Sullivan is excited to be expanding his role with NCLD, an organization which he says "has had a profound impact at the federal level in advocating on behalf of students with learning disabilities." 

He recounted, for example, that the "one-in-five" statistic, regarding the share of students with a learning disability, comes from NCLD research and was popularized with policymakers through their advocacy. In serving on the board, Sullivan says that his goal "is to facilitate conversations between young adults and this national advocacy organization."

In announcing Sullivan's appointment to the Board of Directors, NCLD CEO Dr. Jacqueline Rodriguez said that his "experience, professional expertise, and commitment to systemic change are critical as we work to create a more inclusive and supportive society for individuals with learning disabilities.”

Reflecting back upon the impact Landmark College had on his education and early career, Sullivan said that "Landmark was an inflection point for me to change my personal story from an illness, or something to overcome, to rather learning how to work with my dyslexia. It changed my narrative of what it means to be dyslexic." Thinking about Landmark College's unique status as a college built exclusively for neurodivergent learners, Sullivan said that the Landmark campus "was an environment that celebrated difference. That made me comfortable enough to celebrate my own learning difference."

Learn more about the National Center for Learning Disabilities.